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Friday, November 9, 2018

An overnight with GFJ, with booking of cruise tickets.

I finally booked the cruise! It was not the one I originally wanted, but it is one where I'd feel more comfortable getting off the boat at 3 of the 7 ports of call.

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When I woke up Sunday morning, both cruises I wanted were still available to me. So I figured that I'd take the chance that I'd still be able to get the cheaper cruise at a reasonable price. So I got showered and dressed as Mario, and out the door I went to a 1:30 pm birthday party for one of GFJ's friend's boyfriend.

Driving up to New Windsor wasn't the easiest or hardest thing to do. But I don't like driving the "Route 6/Bear Mountain Goat Path" if I can avoid it. And with the weather we've been having, I expected a series of potential slick spots where water runoff hits a curve or two. So I took it easy on the way to the restaurant.

Reaching the restaurant, I was lucky to meet one of GFJ's friends - who recognized me before I recognized her. GFJ arrived a few minutes afterward, and those at the party waited about a half hour before the guest of honor arrived. And once he did, there was a lot of great conversation and celebration that lasted for 3-4 hours. This was one of those times where I didn't really know the cast of characters that well, but was able to have fun in spite of having been in the mood to stay home when I left the house....

Afterwards, GFJ and I went home to relax and go to bed early. Both of us were feeling quite full from dinner, and needed to sleep off a large meal. Before we went to bed, I found out that one of my two cruises jumped $300+ in price and left the range of prices I was willing to pay. This meant that sometime after GFJ left, I'd have to contact Mercy College to see about adjusting the remainder of this semester's speech therapy schedule to accommodate the cruise AND to book the other cruise before it left my affordable range....

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The next morning, both GFJ and I got up late. She had to run off to work, while I had to start taking care of postponed tasks. I fell asleep for a while, and then contacted people at Mercy. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they could accommodate my request as quickly as they did. Next, it was a call to the travel agency. As I expected, a cruise that would be $864 with single supplement ended up costing me $1165 before mandatory gratuity charges. My total base cost for this cruise will be in the $1325 range. (Experienced single cruisers know that base rates should be multiplied by a factor of 1.5 to get a real price for a cruise.) And I'll be on a cruise where I feel safe getting off at 3 of the ports.

Once done, I decided to take a ride and pick up my prescriptions. Of course, this meant another day out as Mario. With my prescriptions filled, it was time for a drive. I chatted with the Cat Lady for a while, and Lili made it easy to end the conversation. Then after a few minutes, I didn't have much more to say with Lili. So I made a break for Starbucks.

On the way back home, I chatted with GFJ. She opened up the possibility of Thanksgiving with her family. I'll take her up on this, as this might be the best chance I get to meet her mother while she is healthy....